TEFSCBSS Chapter 73

Chapter 73: Zhao Si Was Born Rebellious and Swore to Betray the Village

“Huh? What?” Zhao Wen looked confused. Weren’t they supposed to be going to a villager’s house? By logic, this time he should be entering the same courtyard that Wang Bokao had visited earlier, right?

Zhao Si repeated himself, “Have you read that collection of supernatural tales? The one that records the legends of Shanshi Village?”

“Oh, yes! Yes, yes! That’s exactly how I found this place. I wanted the peddler—I mean, I wanted you to bring me here!”

He was careful not to expose Zhao Si’s true identity and answered cautiously.

“Alright then, follow me. I’ll tell you some secrets.”

With that, Zhao Si grabbed Zhao Wen and led him into his courtyard. Inside, there was a coffin, just like in the other courtyards.

Zhao Si pulled Zhao Wen over and casually sat down on the coffin lid.

“To be honest with you, I am the one mentioned in the supernatural tales—Zhao Si. Years ago, I was tricked by Cui Yixue into coming to this village, where I was made a servant. My job was to trade goods with other villages.”

Zhao Si rambled on, revealing the entire backstory of Zhao the Peddler. The more Zhao Wen listened, the more terrified he became. His father had always warned him: the more you know, the sooner you die! And now Zhao Si was telling him everything. Even if it was a lie, didn’t that mean his end was near?

His small face turned pale, his body weak, and his gaze nervously shifted to the coffin beneath him. Was this… his final resting place?

“What are you thinking? Do you agree or not?”

“Huh? What?” Zhao Wen looked up, dazed. What had Zhao Si just said?

“…I said, I want to escape this village for good. Will you help me?”

“Uh… um… I—I am just a weak, insignificant man. H-how could I possibly help you?”

For the first time since entering the courtyard, Zhao Si smiled. “It’s very simple. You just have to lie down in this coffin. It’ll be quick. Over before you know it.”

Before Zhao Wen could react, Zhao Si placed his hands on his shoulders and shoved him into the coffin.

As the coffin lid slowly closed, a brand-new script fell onto Zhao Wen’s face. In his daze, he could still hear Zhao Si cheering, “Haha! This round went smoothly. Quick and clean. Now I can take a good rest.”

Zhao Wen was stunned. He lifted the new script from his face and muttered, “Damn… the words on this thing are glowing.”

Inside the pitch-black coffin, he stared at the script, gradually coming to terms with the reality—he had been soul-swapped by Zhao Si. In other words, he was now Zhao Si and had to complete Zhao Si’s mission.

[You are now Zhao Si. You have always wanted to break free from this village. Whether it’s the village chief or the monks, you trust none of them. You only believe in yourself.]

[The so-called sacrificial rituals the monks talk about, their schemes to search for a treasure that grants immortality—you find it all laughable.]

[Fortunately, you are one of the few who knows how the previous peddler truly achieved immortality.]

[To put it simply, you need a new outsider’s body. Then, just like the previous peddler, you must consume the soil that once buried the ghostly woman, followed by a piece of her bone. After that, you must sabotage the sacrificial ritual.]

[By doing so, you can replicate the peddler’s path and obtain true eternal life.]

[But remember—never let anyone discover that you have been reborn. Keep pretending to be an outsider. Protect your body from being taken apart. Keep your flesh intact.]

[Once that’s done, you can secretly gather the outsiders and escape through the hidden passage beneath the Earth God Temple, leaving this village forever.]

[Of course, before you leave, you’ll take the treasure. After all, surviving in the outside world without money would be impossible.]

“!!!”

The words in the new script left Zhao Wen utterly shocked.

He suddenly recalled Li Tiechui from the previous round. He must have been soul-swapped as well. So when he was working in the ancestral hall, was he just making clay pots? Had he already consumed the soil from the ghost’s grave back then?

The more Zhao Wen thought about it, the sicker he felt. He pushed open the coffin lid and leaned over the edge, dry-heaving.

But something still didn’t make sense. Why had Li Tiechui stayed among the villagers in the last round?

According to the script, shouldn’t he have remained undercover as an outsider?

Wait—hold on.

The script mentioned another mission.

Sabotage the sacrificial ritual!

In the previous round, without shared information among everyone, Li Tiechui didn’t realize that the sacrificial ritual might have been completely useless. That’s why he hid among the crowd—to sabotage the ritual.

In other words, last time, the one who killed Wuzhen was likely the person closest to him—Li Tiechui!

Zhao Wen gradually stopped dry-heaving, his eyes lighting up. He hadn’t expected to uncover the murderer so easily.

Now, a new round had begun. While the general sequence of events was similar to the last time, many details had changed. A single flap of a butterfly’s wings could trigger a hurricane miles away, and even the smallest differences could lead to unexpected, unknown consequences.

For now, setting aside the others, Li Tiechui had entered the same courtyard again. That likely meant he had been soul-swapped once more.

This time, Zhao Wen decided to stick to the “correct answer” from the previous round—he would keep his soul-swapping a secret, continue pretending to be an outsider and a player, and then complete his mission!

With that plan in mind, he hurriedly climbed out of the coffin, glanced around the courtyard, determined the right direction, and immediately sprinted toward the same courtyard where he had previously found Wang Bokao.

The courtyard gate was wide open. Zhao Wen found it odd—Jiang Liang hadn’t followed him this time, yet the area was still devoid of villagers.

Estimating the timing, he decided to proceed as planned.

Fixing his gaze on the rice vat in the courtyard, he quickly slipped inside, listening intently to the sounds outside.

…

Plop. Thud. Plop. Thud.

Two sounds of something landing reached Zhao Wen’s ears.

“Is anyone there? Say something!” Gu Qing’s voice whispered.

Huddled inside the rice vat, Zhao Wen moved his head closer to the lid. “Squeak—”

“…”

In response, Gu Qing wordlessly lifted the lid with an exasperated expression.

“…Why are you hiding in the rice vat too?”

“Uh… I didn’t want to sleep in a coffin! That couple—I don’t know what was wrong with them. At first, they tried to stuff me into the coffin, but then they ran out, and then I heard singing again. I was afraid of running into ghosts, so I hid in the vat.”

Perfect. Zhao Wen silently gave himself a mental thumbs-up. He had taken Wang Bokao’s experience from the previous round and applied it to himself, ensuring that neither Gu Qing nor Wan Niang, who was following behind, suspected a thing.

After exchanging information, the three decided to find Li Tiechui before making any further moves.

On the way, Gu Qing and Wan Niang shared their latest experiences with Zhao Wen.

Earlier, when they had entered Wan Niang’s parents’ courtyard, the couple had clung to Wan Niang, sobbing uncontrollably. They kept saying that, years ago, Wan Niang’s mother’s body had reached its natural end, and to avoid having her soul scatter outside, she had no choice but to return to Shanshi Village.

Wan Niang’s father, unwilling to leave his beloved wife, had followed her back.

“I have a question. Didn’t her father always call her mother ‘Little Lingzhi’? By logic, neither of them should be from Shanshi Village, so how are they able to stay here?” Zhao Wen asked, puzzled.

Wan Niang, completely unfazed—as if she weren’t talking about her parents (which, technically, she wasn’t)—answered, “It’s simple. It’s hard for the people of Shanshi Village to break free, but for outsiders, becoming a villager is easy.”

“Back then, everyone thought Little Lingzhi had died. But in reality, she hadn’t—she just wandered into Shanshi Village through the mist by accident.”